Hispanic advocates seek Medicare extension

WASHINGTON (Medill News Service) - Fearful that more than one million Latinos will be too late to enroll in the Medicare prescription drug benefit program, Hispanic advocacy groups urged the Bush administration Tuesday to extend the May 15 deadline.

Language and cultural barriers make Latino seniors particularly at-risk for missing the Medicare Part D cutoff date, the experts said. Eligible beneficiaries who don't sign up by next week won't be able to enroll until Nov. 15, and they will be assessed at least a 6 percent penalty on their monthly premiums.

The administration should "give Medicare beneficiaries more time to check their facts, know their options, and make informed decisions about Part D," said Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif.

President Bush has argued the deadline provides a necessary incentive for people to sign up and has resisted calls to extend the deadline. Solis said one in every three eligible Hispanics has yet to sign up for Part D.

More than 3.1 million Latinos are eligible for benefits, but only 2.1 million have enrolled in the program, according to the Campaign for America 's Future, an advocacy group. Latinos are twice as likely as the rest of the population to lack any drug coverage.

The government's Web site and phone number to enroll in the program are available in Spanish, but eligible beneficiaries lack the translators and support to navigate the confusing system, Solis said.

"The program will punish people who don't understand the process," she said.

Latinos are especially vulnerable, the experts argued, because they are less likely than the population as a whole to have computer access. They have a longer life expectancy than other Americans, but also have higher rates of chronic illnesses, according to Kaiser Family Foundation statistics.

A study by the Government Accountability Office last week found that many of the program's instructions are written at a reading level ranging from seventh grade to post-college. Forty percent of seniors read at or below a fifth-grade level.

The study also reported that one-third of calls to the government's enrollment hotline received inadequate or incorrect information.

Only 55 percent of seniors were aware of the May 15 deadline, and 53 percent knew they could be penalized for signing up late, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation.





Vail Daily, Vail, Colorado